


Letters of Sisters

by AColl98



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Thorne & Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Middle School, Best Friends, Family Secrets, Friendship, Gen, Harry Potter - Freeform, High School, Ilvermorny, Ilvermorny House - Horned Serpent, Ilvermorny House - Pukwudgie, Ilvermorny House - Thunderbird, Ilvermorny House - Wampus, Isolt Sayre - Freeform, Letters, MCUSA, Magic, Magical Bond, Magical Realism, Middle School, Minor Lirael/Nicholas Sayre, Pottermore, Queeny Goldstein, Secrets, Students, USA, newt scamander - Freeform, tina goldstein - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 11:06:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28902354
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AColl98/pseuds/AColl98
Summary: In Fantastic Beasts, Tina and Queeny Goldstein make mention of Ilvermorny, the North American school of magic. Rowling also mentions it amongst her other musings on the magical world on the Pottermore website. Have you ever wondered what it's really like to go there? What is magic like in the modern age? What is it like to grow up with magical blood in North America? Find out through the letters of two sisters attending Ilvermorny, and magical North America's best kept secret, Isolt Sayre Dayschool of Elementary Magic... but remember, don't share with just anyone. MCUSA is watching!
Relationships: Family - Relationship, Hogwarts/Ilvermorny, Sisters - Relationship, best friends - Relationship, professor/student - Relationship
Kudos: 1





	1. Introduction: A letter to you

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! Just to let you know, this is an original piece based in the Harry Potter Universe. I may choose to bring up a few characters that we know and love from the Harry Potter or Fantastic Beast stories, but please do not expect it. Thanks and enjoy!

Dearest Reader,

I am so happy you found this collection of letters; but you must keep it a secret. Despite Rita Skeeter completely blowing open the secret of the wizarding world--oh wait, you probably know her as JK Rowling--the North American government is still afraid of the repercussions of non-magical people being aware of magic around them. For the protection of myself and everyone within these letters, I will be changing their names and a few events may be a bit exaggerated; that being said, I promise to respect the sacred trust between writer and reader by indulging no lies in these correspondents between myself and my little sister.

Now, I am sure you have all heard the story about Harry Potter and his years at Hogwarts. By all likelihood, you probably know a lot about that. You may have even heard of Ivermonry, but do you know much about it? Have you ever wondered what it’s like to be a student there? Ever pondered what magic can do in this day and age that technology cannot? Thought about what it would be like to be a wizard or witch? Imagined the possibilities of the mischief you would get up to with magical prowess? 

Those are the stories and experiences I would like to share with you through a series of letters between myself and my little sister, who will be sharing stories of her own from her time at North American magical education’s best kept secret: Isolt Sayre Dayschool of Elementary Magic. 

For those of you who do not know, non-magical relations are all but banned in the United States for the protection of magical people. We are not to let anyone who has no magic become aware of its existence. However, young children have trouble controlling their magic and it can come out at any time. It is exactly for that reason that Isolt Sayre Dayschool was created. To provide a safe, No-Maj free environment for magical children to receive an education about their gifts and have “little accidents” without the danger of the non-magical world discovering them. Sayre School, as we call it for short, is not like Hogwarts or Ilvermorny however, where every magical child is required and invited to attend no matter their financial means or talent. This school is only for the particularly gifted, accident prone or financially stable enough. The fees are not high per-say, but they aren’t exactly inexpensive either. Thus, most magical children are homeschooled in North America. My sister and I are two of the more gifted types as we come from a long line of proud and powerful witches and wizards with our family passing ancient magical traditions down through generations. I digress. Sayre School is typically seen as a four year school--though it can be longer for those students that need it to be--where children are invited at the ages of 7-8 and progress until their 11-12th birthday when they move onto Ilvermorny. Where Ilvermorny is situated in the New England region of the United States, Sayre School is nestled within the Grand Canyon with students being transported to and from school via the riverways on a daily basis. There are no houses in Sayre School and no formal year classes either, everyone progresses at their own speed and everyone is looked after as best they can be.

The school year begins, at both schools, on the first of September. Unlike over in England, most students don’t go shopping for their supplies until after the first week of school. Uniforms and the like are delivered to students by both schools prior to the first day of school as students are required to send in measurements when they return their acceptance letter. Sayre School pretty much provides everything their students need, minus a wand. Wands are not selected until students arrive at Ilvermorny. However, there is a small town not far from Ilvermorny where the whole school travels the weekend after the first week of class where students get their supplies along with other wild trinkets and toys. Remember the Weasley twins store in Diagon Alley? We have one too! I bet you didn’t know that they had expanded to be worldwide. 

Now, I wouldn't want to be accused of being a Hagrid by giving too much away; so, perhaps I should let the letters do the talking from here on out. Never fear though, you will hear from me soon. 

  


Later!

Aina O'Coileain


	2. September 25

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First Letter from Aina to Maire recounting the events of the sorting ceremony at Ilvermorny.

Dear Maire, 

I’ve missed you heaps! How is school going? Are they treating you well at Sayre School? I hope so. If not, just tell Ms. Hulsey- she’s quite an influential lady there whether you believe it or not. Tell me what you are learning! Anything new, cool, or interesting? 

I suppose there is a lot for me to catch you up on here. Lots of people to reunite with and lots of new faces too. It’s so cool to be meeting people from all over North America with magic. There are even students from Alaska and Hawaii! (They like to argue over whether it is warm or cold here already!) John is here and so is Hannah. Reuniting with them was amazing- especially since Hannah moved away this past summer. She says she likes Ohio, but I think she misses home. Right now, I’m pretty sure we all do. None of us were ready to go back to school. 

You’ll be anxious to hear about the sorting ceremony I bet! That was quite possibly the coolest thing we’ve seen yet- and they showed us a wild Wampus last week! (Try not to make them angry. We had to learn that the hard way after Gabriel Shaw decided it wasn’t moving enough and started throwing rocks at it.) 

Ok, the ceremony. So all of the first years were asked to climb Mt. Greylock in order to allow the older students a chance to get to Ilvermorny before us and get all settled in and ready for the ceremony. Also they said that the climb was supposed to represent the struggle of our race and of the founders, but even more so our own struggles- in life and in school. They told us that if we could reach the summit, than we can overcome any challenge ahead of us. We were not allowed to use magic. It took us almost all day, but we did it! 

Once up at Ilvermorny- finally- we were corralled into the entrance hall where all the older students were waiting for us. They all looked fresh, clean, and sharp as they stood above their house statues on a circular balcony overlooking the entrance. There was quite a bit of nervous chatter from my class, but it was quickly quieted by the stern looks of the older students. Some of the teachers worked to keep us out of the huge golden irish Gordian knot in the center of the floor while they organized us by age- oldest to youngest. Students chosen by the Horned Serpent were signified by the glow of the jewel on it’s head; the Wampus roars, the Pukwudgie raises it’s arrow, and the Thunderbird flaps it’s wings. None of the older students flinched when any of this happened; but there were definitely gasps from my class. One girl even fainted at the roar; I really hope she wasn’t placed in that house- for her sake. 

Eventually it was my turn. I was so nervous. I had no idea who’s house I best fit into. The experience was equally nerve-wracking and exhilarating. As I stepped into the center of the knot, I glanced up. Above me, the older students looked down, watching expectantly. Taking a breath, I looked at the four figures and forced myself to relax. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the Pukwudgie begin to move, but seconds later- just before he had fully raised his arrow- the thunderbird suddenly threw back his head, whistled, and beat his wings so hard that everyone felt the breeze. To my right, the Pukwudgie froze and returned to his original place. Everyone was stunned into silence- and then, the room erupted in whispers. 

Before too long, Headmaster Agilbert Fontaine stepped into the knot with me and silenced everyone with simply the raising of his open hand. He, then guided me, to a large hallway lined with wands, whispered instructions in my ear and sent me off down the line of wands. I was to place my hand on all provided wands until I found the one that chose me. Needless to say I was still in shock from the sorting. As the headmaster was escorting me out I had heard one of the older students whisper that no one had ever gotten a reaction like that from the Thunderbird before. It didn’t sound like anyone had noticed the Pukwudgie move at all. Maybe it was just my imagination- but I swear I saw it move. 

It didn’t take long for me to find my wand. People always say that it’s like a warm embrace when you first meet your wand or the wind gets knocked out of you or you can feel the essence of life and magic around you. Mine was different. It wasn’t soft and subtle at all- then again, neither am I. It was like having lighting shot up my arm and into my body. It scared me so much that I jumped back, tripped over myself and fell to the floor. My wand is a 10 inch, Hornbeam with little flexibility and a phoenix feather core.

Recently, in our introduction class, we learned what all the different specifications of wand means. Would you like to know? We’ll take mine for example to keep this short. 

Hornbeam is a wood for the talented and goal-oriented wizard. It does best when focused on a single task at a time. It is extremely attached to it’s owner and becomes personalized so quickly that if someone else were to try and use my wand, they would never get the outcome they are expecting. It likes to get set into habits and will consistently create exactly the same effect with the same spells that I originally asked of it. Along with habits, it also adopts my code of honor and morals. This means that basically since I would never use an unforgivable spell, the wand will never do an unforgivable spell.

Phoenix feather cores are known to be very rare with the largest range of capabilities. It takes a strong person to tame the core because they are so wildly independent, but once loyalty is won, it is always steadfast. On more than one occasion I’ve had to battle to get my wand to cooperate or even cast a spell. Once it just started firing off spells at random in the middle of class. I almost felt bad when a stupify curse hit Wylie Dixon. He’s been a pompous airhead since day one who tried to tell everyone that he was chosen by all four guardians, even though everyone saw that he was not, and that he could beat anyone at any wizarding battle. He can barely cast the lumos charm. You’ve been doing that since you were 6 on mom’s wand when she wasn’t looking!

Wand length usually isn’t much to worry about. The average wand lands somewhere between 9 and 14 inches. With mine at 10, I feel rather comfortable. Here’s an interesting tid bit- according to Mr. Ollivander, the shortest wands go to the most lacking in magical skill and are usually 8 inches or under. Guess how long Dixon’s wand is? (7.5 inches). Flexibility is similar in that it really doesn’t mean too much, though more rigid wands tend to denote a distaste for change, whether it’s separation of original owner from wand or a general fear and hate of change.

I am excited to see what happens when you come to Ilvermorny. I wonder what house you will be in. Currently my money is on Horned Serpent. And wand… I have no idea. It will be an adventure to see though!

I have 4 roommates. Their names are Kenna, Justice, Alyce, and Elle. Kenna is a 17 year old, bubbly brunette with bright blonde highlights from Illinois. She plans to work in Magizoology and is in a special study program where she spends 2 years at Ilvermorny, 2 years at Hogwarts, 2 years at Mahoutokoro, and 2 years at Uagadou. Her schooling requires lots of research and she has been given special permission to come and go as she needs in order to complete her graduating Magizoology work. Justice is a 19 year old, sassy black girl with attitude enough for all 5 of us. She’s from Texas and she fully meets all the expectations of a large-and-in-charge Texan with all the wildness of the forgotten West. Alyce is a shy 18 year old and from Wisconsin. She’s a lanky girl with shaggy dirty blonde hair- but she can sing like no other. She surprised us all when she first practiced in front of us. We couldn’t believe that such a deep, full, rich sound could come out of someone so twig-tiny. Elle is possibly my favorite. She’s 18, from Massachusetts, and a complete nerd, just like me!! Although she’s a little more of the stay-inside-never-do-sports-nerd. 

Hannah was placed in Wampus house. Unfortunately I don’t see her much because of that and we don’t share any classes; but we do try to do breakfast every weekend to catch up. She’s become very good friends with this boy named Tyrese. I’m pretty sure he’s convinced her to go on a date with him. Otherwise, she’s been busy as always; forever writing essays for her classes and participating in the Ilvermorny Student Congress. I haven’t spent too much time with her roommates, but they do seem cool and I know she really likes them. I really don’t know what I would do without her when it comes to studying though. She is one of the few people that I know that can keep me focused; no matter the task or my amount of wandering energy.

John was selected by the Thunderbird as well so I see him all the time. We’ve both been kept incredibly busy with classes though. He actually managed to be so busy one night that he overslept through all his classes one day! I don’t suggest trying that. It took him all week to catch up! He’s definitely found his niche of people here. One of his best friends and roommates Griffin has slowly become a good friend of mine too. As a joke, John and his other roommates bought Griffin a unicorn hat. He’s been wearing it ever since; apparently he even sleeps in it!. The one time I tried to take it off his head Griffin panicked and yelled at me. John later told me that a spell went wrong recently and Griffin gave himself a reverse mohawk, and that his hair still hadn’t grown back. It has now. Picture day was a couple of days ago. Technically everyone is required to dress up for said pictures, but John and the rest of the boys of Thunderbird decided it would be hilarious to only dress up from the waist up since that is where the picture stops. They all wore short shorts on the bottom. It was a great look. The school was laughing about it for days even though the administration thought it was atrocious. Also, you’ll be impressed to know that John was selected to play for the Thunderbird quidditch team. He is playing the position of Keeper. Their first match is against Horned Serpent and it looks to be a good one! 

I think this letter has gotten long enough as it is. I think this is a pretty good place to end it. I can’t wait to hear from you! Write me soon! 

All my love,

Aina 

**Author's Note:**

> Hi again! I hope you enjoyed the story so far. I know that some details can be a bit confusing since I have chosen to write in letter format, so please don't be afraid to reach out if confused. I welcome all questions, comments, concerns, and CONSTRUCTIVE criticism. Thank you for reading and see you soon!


End file.
